What Needs to Change and How Can the International Aid System Deliver?
Remarks by
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
At the Third-High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness
2 September 2008
Accra, Ghana
Panel Discussion and Debate: Aid Effectiveness and Development Results
Introduction
Thank you very much. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am very pleased to be here today, representing the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This gathering of over 100 delegations from the partner and donor countries, multilateral development banks, and other institutions, including the civil society organizations, is a clear indication of the importance we all associate with improving the effectiveness of aid. Before I share with you some of ADB's key activities and lessons learned, I want to convey our special thanks to the Government of Ghana for hosting this event.
The Paris Declaration (2005) has given all of us an important set of challenges - ranging from increasing country ownership to harmonizing donors' actions. Perhaps we can agree that the pace of progress has not been as fast as we had hoped, but as the "AAA" Paper states - ADB also believes that this is a moment of opportunity. Yet, we are also currently facing many challenges on development - including the rapid food price increase, climate change, and large-scale natural disasters. These remind all of us that continued partnership among the development institutions with the partner and donor countries remains to be critical.
ADB's Actions: Aid Effectiveness for the Asia-Pacific Region
Now, please allow me to briefly talk about the current issues and challenges for the Asia-Pacific region, and the actions from ADB. We have often described the region as the one with 'two faces'. One portrays a region enjoying unprecedented economic success, recording annual GDP growth of 5 to 10 percent for many countries, further supported by increasing foreign investments and an expanding middle class. The other face of Asia is one of persistent poverty, where more than 600 million people live below the $1 per day, and about 1.7 billion are below the $2 a day vulnerability line.
In addressing those challenges, ADB believes that aid effectiveness must begin with improving the development effectiveness of each our institutions individually. In order to deliver better services to our developing member countries, ADB has taken a number of major steps in this regard. This includes the use of common arrangements and procedures, program-based approaches, and joint missions with emphasis on joint country strategy, portfolio review, and country analysis. Furthermore, ADB has been mainstreaming the Managing for Development Results (MfDR) in our activities - recognizing that it is a country-based system.
Recently, ADB has completed a long-term strategic framework, called Strategy-2020 - aimed to establish a renewed development roadmap to address the needs of our region. The main pillars for development are inclusive socio-economic growth, sustainable development, and regional cooperation. For effective implementation of Strategy-2020, we are finalizing a corporate Results Framework - to monitor our development effectiveness at four results areas: (i) regional outcomes; (ii) ADB's operational outputs; (iii) ADB's operational effectiveness; and (iv) ADB's organizational effectiveness. This ensures that our aid effectiveness can be clearly demonstrated, fully synchronized with the countries' development objectives, and that key sectoral / thematic issues for the region are sufficiently addressed.
Conclusions
In conclusion, I want to thank you again for the opportunity to be here and present a brief description of ADB's activities on aid effectiveness. From ADB's perspective, we have learned that aid effectiveness can only be achieved when we can: (i) establish a clear set of targets and accountability at various levels - based on the countries' priorities, procedures, and ownership; (ii) institute a transparent mechanism for monitoring, (iii) broaden for more inclusive partnerships to share resources and lessons learned from one another, and (iv) enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of our own institutions, with key MfDR-oriented incentives being in place.
I hope that through the discussions, we will be able to reach a consensus on the post-2010 agenda, and develop a framework for the relevant stakeholders to establish a clear set of commitments. Although there are various views within our region, ADB supports the "AAA" Paper's main thrusts, and I hope aforementioned considerations would be further discussed. More broadly, ADB hopes that this event, combined with the upcoming Millennium Development Goal Summit in New York, and the Financing for Development Review Meeting in Doha, will result in a renewed effort for more effective development partnerships. Thank you very much.
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